Rejoining forces after many years of silence, German dark metal frontrunners Agathodaimon released their long-awaited comeback album, “The Seven”, on March 18, 2022 via Napalm Records. Formed in 1995 and entering the scene with their debut, “Blacken the Angel”, in 1998, the five-piece has made an indisputable name for themselves ever since. Yet after six albums bandleader, Sathonys was temporarily forced to put Agathodaimon on hold in 2014 due to private circumstances. Now, the gates of darkness have opened once again- here’s our interview with the guitarist/clean vocalist, Sathonys!

-You guys announced that you’re reunited in July of 2020 – but when exactly did you decide that you want to reunite and work on new songs?

-Oh, it actually was back in 2018, both vocalist Ashtrael and I decided it would be the time to give it a go and look out for musicians to complete the line-up. It took us 2 years to be safe to say that we are “back”. It’s not easy to fill multiple vacant slots. Of course, you need capable musicians, but also the personal vibe must be right, the chemistry should be there. We’ve had a few auditions until we were sure the proper constellation is in place.

-You were on hiatus for a few years. Did you follow each other’s careers during that time?

-Well, except for our drummer Manuel, the rest of the band decided to quit the metal scene. Manuel did join The Spirit, who released 3 albums so far. We’re still in touch every now and then, and will also play on their release show in their hometown. And of course, I’ve been in touch with Ashtrael over the years. But we were both too busy with our families to go for other musical ventures. At least in my case, it wouldn’t have made sense at all.

-How long did it take for you to put together the new album, “The Seven”?

-Well, hard to say, due to Corona. But effectively, it was about 2 years.

-What was the biggest challenge during the working process?

-To deal with this pandemic situation. We’ve spent a good amount of time in the rehearsal room, finally managed to sign a record deal, arranged some comeback shows, and then all of a sudden, things had to be canceled and we weren’t allowed to meet for quite some time. That was very depressing for me and hard to deal with. But we somehow made it, luckily.

-I know that it’s impossible to choose a favorite song, but which song is the most special one for you from “The Seven” and why?

-Well, I need to pick at least “Ain’t Death Grand” and “Mother Of All Gods”. For “Ain’t Death Grand”, this was the first song we’ve written together in the new lineup. It was somehow a test, to show if we’d be able to work together as a proper band, I wasn’t sure if we would be able to revive the proper spirit. But it really worked out well, it felt to me like the early days of Agathodaimon. And regarding “Mother Of All Gods”, this was the first cooperation with our former vocalist Vlad since 1999. I’ve been in touch with him since he left the band, but neither time nor situation didn’t fit so far, but this time we managed to do something together, and for me, that’s a very special track.

-And which was the most challenging one?

-I think “Kyrie / Gloria” because there are so many slow elements, but the end gets insanely fast, and it really hurts playing it live. Composition-wise, it was “In My Dreams” parts 1+2. Basically, there were two individual songs that somehow didn’t stand on their own… They shared some similarities, and in the end were stripped down and combined, only extracting the essential elements.

-Are you also planning to go on tour with the new material?

-Well, there are some plans, but it’s not sure given the current situation. Plus, we’re a bit limited when it comes to longer touring. But we’re open for any event or festival appearance. The problem is, that most of them are already booked since 2020 and carrying over their lineup to 2022 from previous years. But let’s see, as mentioned, I’m looking forward to playing live.

Thanks to everyone who supported us so far. If I may use the opportunity- if you’d like to order vinyl, CD, merch, etc directly from us, have a look at https://agathodaimon.bandcamp.com. It would help us a lot to cover the expenses we’ve had, for example, the videos we’ve produced for “Ain’t Death Grand” and “Kyrie / Gloria”, featuring Julien of Benighted. If you didn’t check them yet, have a look!